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Independent Panel Appointed To Advise On BBC Charter Review

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Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell today appointed an independent panel of experts to help with the review of the BBC's Royal Charter - a document that shapes the BBC, setting out its aims, objectives and functions. 

The panel's appointment was agreed with Terry Burns, Tessa Jowell's independent advisor on the review of the charter.

Terry Burns and the panel will work together to advise Tessa Jowell on key issues and, subject to commercial confidentiality, their advice will be published. The themes the panel will consider have all arisen from and been defined by a major public consultation on the future of the BBC which kicked off the Charter Review process.

The panel will also work to ensure that the process continues to be run with integrity and objectivity, and that views are sought from as wide a range of sources as possible.

The panel consists of:

Sly Bailey - Chief Executive of Trinity Mirror plc and former Chief Executive of IPC Media.

 

Alan Budd - Provost of The Queen's College Oxford and former Chief Economic Adviser to the Treasury and Head of the Government Economic Service.

 

Howard Davies - Director of the London School of Economics, previously the first Chairman and Chief Executive of the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

Janet Finch - Vice-Chancellor and Professor of Social Relations, Keele University.

Tim Gardam – Principal Elect of St Anne's College, Oxford, previously Director of Television and Director of Programmes at Channel 4.

Alice Rawsthorn - Director of the Design Museum and former Financial Times journalist.

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Tessa Jowell said:

"I am delighted that Terry has secured such a strong cast list for his panel. The breadth of knowledge, range of views and extensive experience contained within it will prove invaluable.

"We launched this Charter Review by asking viewers and listeners what they want from the BBC – a first for a Charter Review. I will now look to Terry and his panel to marshal and formulate the arguments that have come out of this consultation, as we move towards forming a considered view of what the BBC of the future should look like.

"All aspects of the BBC will be assessed as we go through this process. The only certain outcome will be a strong BBC, independent of Government."

Terry Burns said:

"I am delighted at the panel's appointment. We will use our expertise, in a variety of fields, to bring a broad public interest perspective to bear and ensure that all the arguments and evidence are heard."

The panel's work will focus around a series of seminars to debate key issues, such as funding, governance and quality of services. The seminar series, which will be held at the DCMS in front of a small, invited audience, will begin at the end of next month and run through the autumn. The seminars' findings will be published on the Charter Review website.

The outcome of the seminars will play a key role in developing themes for a future Green Paper, expected to be published for consultation around the turn of the year.

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Notes to Editors

1.   Short biographies of the panel members are as follows:

  • Sly Bailey is CEO of Trinity Mirror, the UK's largest newspaper publisher. Prior to this she was chief executive of AOL Time Warner-owned IPC Media in the UK (since 1999) and successfully led the company through its management buy-out before achieving the sale of the business to AOL Time Warner in October 2001.
  • (Sir) Alan Budd is the Provost of The Queen's College, Oxford (since August 1999) and the former Chief Economic Adviser to the Treasury and Head of the Government Economic Service (1991–7). He was a member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee until May 1999. He was formerly Professor of Economics at the London Business School.  He was chairman of the Gambling Review Body and a member of the Committee on the Future Funding of the BBC.
  • (Sir) Howard Davies was the first head of the main financial watchdog, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), which was established by Chancellor Gordon Brown. Sir Howard held the roles of chairman and chief executive - they were split on his departure to become Director of the London School of Economics. He was previously Deputy Governor of the Bank of England between mid 1995 and mid 1997. Prior to that he was Director General of the Confederation of British Industry and before that Chief Executive of the Audit Commission.
  • Janet Finch is Vice-Chancellor of Keele University, a position that she has held since 1995.  Before that she was Pro Vice-Chancellor of Lancaster University.  A Sociologist by background she has published extensively on family relationships, social policy and gender.  She was one of the founding Academicians of the Learned Societies for the Social Sciences, and in 1999 she was awarded a CBE for services to social science.  She has extensive experience of serving as a member or Chair of various national bodies concerned with higher education or research.  She currently holds several part-time appointments including as a member of the Executive of Universities UK;  Chair of the Equality Challenge in Higher Education;  a member of the Council for Science and Technology (the government's senior advisory body for science);  a Trustee of the National Centre for Social Research;  and a non-executive member of the Policy Board of the Office for National Statistics.
  • Tim Gardam is Principal Elect of St Anne's College, Oxford. Prior to this he was Director of Television and Director of Programmes at Channel 4 for five years, from November 1998 to November 2003. He was Controller of News and Documentaries at Channel Five where he was a founding member of the editorial team (1996–1998). He began his career as a journalist at the BBC from 1977 to 1996, during which time he founded the history programme Timewatch and served as Editor of Panorama and of Newsnight. Between 1993 and 1996 Tim Gardam was Head of Current Affairs for BBC television and radio.
  • Alice Rawsthorn is Director of the Design Museum. She is an architecture and design critic and prominent spokesperson on design issues. Before joining the Design Museum in April 2001 Alice was a journalist with the Financial Times and the author of a critically acclaimed biography of the fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent. She is a trustee of the Whitechapel Gallery in London, Chair of the British Council's Design Advisory Group and the lead advisor on the visual arts to the Arts Council.

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2.   The current charter – the seventh in the BBC's history – runs out on 31     December 2006.

3.    A document The Review of the BBC's Royal Charter and further information on the BBC and Charter Review can be accessed at www.bbccharterreview.org.uk

4.    The BBC's Royal Charter is a formal document granted under the Royal prerogative, establishing the BBC and defining its general objectives and functions.  It is supported by the Agreement between the BBC and the Government, which sets out how the BBC will meet its general obligations, the services it will provide, and the standards, it will meet. The current charter and agreement can be accessed at 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/policies/charter/

5.    The first Charter Review was in 1927. Since then reviews have been carried out about every 10 years. The current Royal Charter is the seventh in the history of the BBC.

6.    The BBC provides the following publicly funded services:

  • TV channels – BBC1 and BBC2, BBC 3 and BBC4, CBeebies, CBBC, BBC News 24 and BBC Parliament.
  • Radio services – Radio1, Radio2, Radio 3, Radio 4, Radio Five Live, Five Live Sports Xtra, Radio 1Xtra, BBC6 Music, BBC7 and BBC Asian Network, as well as 38 local radio stations and a further six stations covering the nations.
  • BBCi – the BBC's interactive services, including online services, interactive text and interactive digital television.
  • Services in the nations and regions – BBC Scotland, BBC Northern Ireland, BBC Wales and BBC English Regions.

7.     In addition, the BBC runs a number of commercial services, including BBC Worldwide Ltd and BBC Ventures Ltd.

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